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Coleman devastated by defending

Rochdale boss John Coleman took the blame for his side's defensive frailties after they lost for the third consecutive game.

Last Updated: 15/12/12 9:26pm

Rochdale boss John Coleman took the blame for his side's defensive frailties after they lost for the third consecutive game.

Having been beaten 3-2 by York and then Exeter Dale went down 4-2 to Aldershot at the EBB Stadium thanks to goals from Dani Lopez, Peter Vincenti, Danny Rose and Craig Reid.

And Coleman, who saw Ashley Grimes net twice for his side, who held his hands up after another defensive display to forget.

"I'm devastated," he said. "It's the third week in a row that we've conceded three in the first half and the team that's scored three hasn't had to do much.

"We scored a wonderful goal to get back in the game, but the first goal was horrendous defending.

"The buck has got to stop with me. I'm the one who signed these players and we've proved over the last four games that defensively we're nowhere near good enough, so I've got to take responsibility for signing those players and playing those players.

"In hindsight, I'd have used more of the budget on a more experienced centre-half.

"The initial signs were that they were going to be good enough, but it might be that exposure to this amount of games has caught up with them."